


The Road Untravelled

by The_Fairy_Godmother



Category: Tangled (2010)
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Attempted Seduction, Backstory, Drinking, F/M, Kidnapping, Running Away, Sex, Unplanned Pregnancy, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-20
Updated: 2017-07-20
Packaged: 2018-12-04 15:35:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11558187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Fairy_Godmother/pseuds/The_Fairy_Godmother
Summary: What would happen if Gothel never came across Maximus on her trip through the forest, and had just continued on her way?Rapunzel and Eugene would have never been interrupted in the boat, Eugene would have never been captured and Gothel would be none the wiser.





	The Road Untravelled

Chapter One

 

“I’ll kill him, I’ll kill that Rider!” Screamed a very wet and very irate Stabbington brother as he climbed out of the escape tunnel for the Snugly Duckling.  His younger brother was following him behind him, just as equally irate and wet.  The two brothers had only recently escaped both death by a million tonnes of water and the Royal Guards, who would then take them to the capital and execute them.  They had also been within inches of revenge against the man who had put them in that position a few short hours ago only for the lousy braggart to escape their clutches once again.

“We’ll cut him off at the Kingdom, get back the crown. Come on,” Jack, the elder brother said as he gestured for his younger, more silent brother to follow him.  They then started to walk in the direction of the city of Corona.  His younger brother was still coughing up a lungful of water but obediently followed his elder brother, as he was usually the brains of the outfit.

“Why’s he going back though?” Asked Ron, the younger brother who had suddenly stopped due to the realisation of Rider’s suicidal plan.  After all, Rider was wanted dead or alive now and had an entire garrison of guards after his head.  Including the vindictive captain of the guards.

This made Jack stop dead.  He had no idea why Rider would want to go back.  All three of them had rather large prices on their heads either dead or alive, and the threat of the gallows if they were caught alive.  And that price was before they stole the most valued and loved possession in the kingdom, the crown of the Lost Princess.  This made him assume that the price on their heads would have almost certainly doubled, if not tripled.  Since every citizen in Corona, especially its Capital, adored the King and Queen and had mourned with them when the princess had become lost.  This meant that the love towards anything that had once belonged to the Lost Princess was immeasurable, so the people would be after their blood now.

“He’s obviously stupider than we thought he was.” Jack eventually replied without conviction. 

He knew he was lying and Ron knew he was lying.  Flynn Rider was the most renowned and notorious thief in seven Kingdoms across the lower half of the continent.  He had been active in the criminal world since he was a young teenager and his notoriety had only increased as time went on, and his reach had spread.  The man was wanted dead or alive in three of them, though Corona held the most claim to the man’s head.  The man had singlehandedly stolen some of the most valuable items in those seven Kingdoms and had often escaped before the original owners had even realised that Flynn Rider had robbed them blind.  He could see escape routes and master plans by a quick glance, but would often do weeks if not months of recognisance just to make sure.  So, why had he returned to the Capital? 

The brothers couldn’t fathom the reason, but they were going to get him so they could easily just ask him if they really wanted, once they captured and beat him up.  The brothers, therefore started walking back towards Corona.  They knew that it was easier to be in the city during the celebration for the Lost Princess, as everyone from all over the kingdom came to celebrate.  This meant that the population in the Capital surged and none of the guards could keep up with the amount of people, let alone criminals, who congregated in the centre for the biggest party in Corona.  It would be easy to find someone like Rider during this.  Actually, thought Jack, that was probably why Rider had returned to the Capital.  To hide amongst the populace.

Both seemed content with that answer, so started to make their way through the forest towards the city.  One thing kept on the minds of the brothers though, as they made their way there in silence.  The blond girl who helped Rider escape them for the second time that day.  She was extremely petite, and rather good looking, but they had never seen her before.  And they could not figure out when Rider had crossed her path, after all he hadn’t left their sight for the last four days.  It was possible that Rider and the Blonde had made a plan before Rider had met up with the Stabbington Brothers.  This was one of the things that Rider was famous for.  His degree of planning and preparation prior the job.  There was one job in another Kingdom that he had put work and contacts into place eight months before he had stolen the jewels.

“What we gonna do about her?” Ron eventually asked his older brother.

“The pretty little blonde that helped that scheming bastard?  We can have some fun with her,” Jack said with a sinister smile.  He did like petite blondes.  Though, there was also the chance that the girl was in on the scheme from the start.  That Rider was always going to betray them and go to that girl who would always have helped him escape from the brothers and their cut of the profits.

“I’m sure after being stuck with him for a while she’ll be craving real men,” Ron said after a few seconds of quiet contemplation.  He also liked petite blondes.  They had, in fact, taken turns with the last one.  A rather fine lady who they took with them and kept for a few days of ‘fun’.  After those days of ‘fun’ the brothers had put her out of her misery.  It was part of the reason for the large price on their heads.

“We could always make Rider watch.  He hates things being taken from him after all,” Jack smirked.  He had worked with Rider a lot over the last five years, so he knew at least a bit about the man who had cheated them.  Rider never took a woman, he would only have willing women.  He also hated seeing other men take women against their will and would often walk out of the brothers if they did.  If he cared about the blonde then that would be a horrendous torment for him. 

It would only take a few hours to reach the Capital of Corona and the rest of the journey was spent discussing Flynn Rider and what to do with him.  After a while they both figured that the blonde girl was his partner in crime, since he had to have somewhere to stash his stash she must do it for him.  They also agreed that Flynn and the blonde must have planned everything from the start and that maybe this girl was the brains behind the outfit, even though Rider did some of his best thinking on his feet she must help with the bigger plans. 

Rider and the girl must have realised that they would need more muscle to steal the crown, as the only way through the security was to go above it.  It had been Rider who had approached the brothers about stealing the crown about two months ago.  He said he had found a way to get in and out again without being noticed.  The brothers figured that he must have been watching the palace for a while to find this hole in the security, but maybe the girl had gone into the palace to do the recognisance for him.  Rider also said that he knew a rare jewellery collector in the next Kingdom, who had tried to buy the crown from the King and Queen a few times, and that this collector would pay very handsomely for the crown of the Lost Princess of Corona.  Rider had promised that they would split the cost three ways evenly, that had obviously been a lie.  He had never mentioned a fourth member of their little merry band, but Rider was always one to keep things close to his chest.  After all, no one knew anything about the man, except that he began to known as the most wanted thief of seven kingdoms about eight years ago.

The blonde girl was even more of a mystery.  A girl with hair so long that it trailed half a mile behind her.  The brothers had no idea how she managed to move around, or be unseen with that much hair.  They were sure that they would have remembered a girl like that, or would have heard about her before.  If she was his accomplice then she would be wanted as well, or if she wasn’t before she would certainly be wanted now.  This meant that after they had their fun with the two double crossers they could tie them up and dump them somewhere that the guards would assuredly discover them, then they could find some terrified and easily used nobody to claim the reward for them.  Now that was a plan worthy of the great Flynn Rider.

They had no idea where in the city Rider and the Blonde would be hiding.  But they were sure gonna flush him out and make sure that he would suffer for what he did, so they headed south towards the city.  There were only a few places that would willingly harbour a wanted criminal and the brothers knew them all.  And if he wasn’t there, well, they weren’t wanted for piddling, little crimes.  They were wanted for violent crimes, and that reputation proceeded them.  They could easily make someone talk.

 

*****

 

Meanwhile, making her way east towards the coast of the Kingdom of Corona was Gothel.  The walk through the forest had been quiet and uneventful.  It was the start of summer and the weather was pleasant and bright, while still not too hot.  Perfect for walking.  She had always enjoyed walking around the forest, relishing the feeling of freedom from the confines of her tower which had once been a prison while she was hiding from the ravishes of the plague.  Recently though, she had started to walking out more to escape her daughter and had been visiting more villages to vary her range of human contact.

Gothel was now on the wide, dirt road which was one of the main coach trails that headed to the small villages that surrounded the coast of Corona.  She had been there many times before in her 500 years on Earth, for Gothel was almost 600 years old.  She had seen the Kingdom of Corona change over its 500 year history to be one of the richest Kingdoms in this part of Europe, but kingdoms change so rapidly that it could all disappear at any moment’s notice.  That was quite likely with Corona, as the only living heir to the Kingdom was currently missing, or hidden, the Royal line was cease and the kingdom would once again change.  This caused Gothel a small amount of joy that the Royal line would stop soon.  Since they had taken something so precious of hers, the magical golden flower, she was justified in taking something valuable of theirs.  Their only child, Princess Rapunzel.

Gothel had doted on the girl when she was a child, as she seemed to be in complete awe of her.  Though now was a different matter.   For, though the girl was obedient, she had started to ask far too many questions.  She did still enjoy having the girl around as she made her life so much easier, and she was necessary for her prolonged life as well as her youth and beauty.  It made Gothel sigh to think about how much the girl had changed over the years.  When she was a small child she would never talk back and would never question her, but now her constant niggling about visiting the outside world was becoming rather unsettling.  This was making Gothel quite uneasy.  She wasn’t sure how long her love and obedience would last which meant that sometimes during her trips she would scout new locations to take Rapunzel, should she ever try to learn too much.  She knew the girl would try and leave at some point, though she was sure it wouldn’t be this year or the next as Gothel had made sure that Rapunzel feared the outside world.

She was getting too curious about the world and about everything in it though and soon that curiosity would lead Rapunzel out of the tower.  This curiosity had actually made Gothel remove several books from the tower and think of new and clever ways to poison her against the world.  Most were fictional, if not completely outrageous.  She told her about cannibals, wild animals, monsters and things that would kill her.  When she had begun turning into a woman and started to have womanly urges she was able to poison her against men and against her own body.  She told her that wicked girls have a curse of blood, and that when her thoughts become pure again it will stop.  She told her that all women in the world have this curse and she hoped that keeping her locked away would stop her suffering from it.  She also told her how men would want to take advantage of her and take her virtue in the most painful and primitive way.  Gothel smiled to herself thinking back on that conversation, it was very quick thinking on her part.

Now Gothel would never tell Rapunzel how much enjoyment was to be had with men, for that would forever be her secret.  In fact, one of the reasons this trip did take so long was due to a man in one of the villages.  She had been having an affair with him for the past five years.  Although she had cut Rapunzel off from human contact it didn’t mean that she didn’t have needs and urges, she had a man in almost every village in the kingdom, and she also did many jobs through out the kingdom.  This allowed her lifestyle.  Many of the people in several villages knew her as Lady Gothel, a very mysterious upper class woman who was never to be found.  She had a great wealth stored in many places throughout the kingdom, as many of her personal items are over five hundred years old.  All she had to do was sell a few things every once in a while and that gave her a hefty amount of money.

She kept walking, thinking of what she would come home to in a few days, expecting her daughter to be there, waiting quietly, with a freshly baked pie.  She would be glad to have some new paint and then Gothel would lay the guilt heavily on her about how much effort she had gone through to bring her this simple thing.  Then her daughter would feel so grateful and guilty that she would not mention going outside again for a least a few more months. 

She had no idea that her secret has been found and that her daughter was nowhere near the tower.

 

*****

 

The lanterns had all graced the night sky as beautifully as they had every year previously.

For eighteen years.

And with each year that passed and led to the next lantern festival it reminded them all that the Lost Princess was still lost.  Most of the citizens of Corona had even forgotten the girl’s name, only knowing her as the Lost Princess.  This was a rather depressing thought, as his daughter had now become a legend.  Something abstract and intangible.  She was no longer a person, whose family died a little each year when they released the lantern into the sky.

Each year as they released the lanterns, their hope would go with each light.

Each year they would hope and dream that their daughter was watching these lights from somewhere safe and warm. 

Each year they hoped that she would know that these thousands of lights were for her.  That one day she would leave the place where she could only watch the lights and follow them.

Each year they would wait patiently in the hope that a guard would soon run through the door, and wordlessly tell them that there was a girl outside with big green eyes and who had the Queen’s nose, and that she wanted to see them.

Each year they hoped that they would run out onto that balcony, where they had released their hopes and dreams into the night sky.  They would run through the balcony doors and there she would be.  She would be standing in front of them, looking like the spitting image of the Queen.  And she would smile and that would be all that was needed.

Each year they dreamed that she would be waiting to embrace them and re-enter their lives. 

But each year they would wait and wait, until that day in May would dawn again.  Then they would start the whole process over from the beginning.

Each year it got harder and harder, but they still had to hope and pray and dream that she would find her way back to their loving arms.

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted on FF.net, I'm hoping that by posting here it will renew my enthusiasm to finish this story.
> 
> Please review, as it gives me motivation.


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